Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 179

– Weaklings…

Karkas tried to join the fight. He was the only one who could potentially turn the tide of the overwhelming situation. However, Tiamar blocked his path.

– You stupid bitch! What are you doing!

In a moment of distraction, Tiamar tried to bite his neck.

– You are my opponent.

– This is not the time for us to fight! He can kill us!

– So?

– Don’t you understand what that means! It means he can kill not only me but you too. The end of the immortality that the Lord so desired!

– I know. Do you think I’m asking because I don’t know?

Karkas paused, taken aback by her calm reaction.

– You already knew. You knew and used it.

– Why would I give up the means to kill you?

– Foolish.

He sneered.

– You’re making a mistake! Do you think you can defeat that human? Look! At my brothers being devoured. Humans are not just killing us, but taking us as their own!

Another Old God was caught in Edar’s hands. The telepathic thoughts emanating from the soul reached Karkas and Tiamar. It was a desperate cry, unbelievable coming from an Old God.

– He has already surpassed us. Me, with the Lord’s body, you, who were the Lord’s true successor, the shell of a dragon is meaningless before that great being!

Karkas’s voice grew faster. The Old Gods were constantly being devoured, and the Emperor’s soul was growing, making him feel increasingly impatient.

– It’s not too late. We must join hands to drive away death. You can send us back to the abyss. I will give you ten thousand years, or even longer. Let’s drive him away.

The Evil Dragon Tiamar looked at the Emperor. Karkas watched her, waiting for an answer, and suddenly realized he could not feel any spirit from her.

Clearly, the energy she exuded was immense, but the spirit that should have accompanied it was missing. The desire to betray her father and destroy the world, the spirit that should have been emanating if she still harbored it, was not felt.

She turned her eyes, which had been fixed on the Emperor, to Karkas and answered.

– No.

I am self-born.

– Why?

Karkas asked.

– Am I so hateful to you?

– I have no reason to explain it to you.

Tiamar opened her jaws and charged. Karkas flapped his wings to avoid her, and her teeth snapped shut on the empty space where he had been.

– Think carefully! This is not something to be swayed by emotions! I know you hate me. But is that hatred so great that you would throw away your life?

Karkas collided with her, who was charging without answering. The impact of the weight made her stagger before regaining her balance.

– The abyss is painful, but there is a chance. There is a possibility of recovery. But death is not. Death is the end in itself.

Karkas bit Tiamar’s neck. However, he did not tear it off immediately but shook it a few times before releasing it. It was a ploy to calm her down by demonstrating his superiority.

But her attitude did not change.

Before the wound on her neck could heal, she spewed breath. Fire leaked from the hole, widening the wound, but she did not care.

– The end? Good. You and I, we all end here.

– You’re crazy. The abyss has ruined you.

– You are the ones who ruined me.

Karkas flew to avoid the breath. The fire chased him, drawing a long line in the sky, and the Old God who had fled to the sky to avoid the Emperor was swept away.

– Knum…!

He lamented, calling out the name of the falling Old God.

The number of Old Gods fighting the Emperor was dwindling. Already half of the gods had been devoured.

How many Old Gods has the Emperor absorbed so far? Including those who ignored Karkas’s instructions and infiltrated the Empire for years, it must be in the hundreds.

‘Gluttonous bastard! How much do you have to eat to be satisfied?’

Those who ignored his instructions and ran out were weak. Except for Barmet, who rejected Karkas’s grand plan as soon as he came out of the abyss, they were the ones who succumbed to his pressure and could not bear it. They were mediocre.

In other words, the Old Gods gathered in this place were different. They were the strongest among the Old Gods. But half of them had been devoured, and the speed of being devoured was increasing.

It was because the Emperor was growing stronger.

– S, stop… stop! Don’t eat me!

The soul of the Old God called Knum was sucked into the Emperor.

Every moment, the Emperor’s soul grew. Every time he swallowed an Old God, every time the swallowed Old God was digested, the light of the Emperor’s soul became more intense.

– Ugh… ugh!

The light was too bright.

It was impossible not to turn away.

Just as one feels the heat even when turning away from the sun, the light of the soul also emitted heat, so everyone on this land felt pain. Smoke rose from the bodies of the Old Gods as if steam was boiling.

– Tiamar, what is the cause of your obsession? Is it because of the body? Is it a problem that I have taken over your father’s body? Then I will give this up too. So—

– I told you, I don’t need it.

Kwang—!

A lightning bolt struck.

– Damn it!

Karkas spread his wings. The scales on his back were charred black by the lightning that struck him. If the body he had taken over was not the Lord’s, he would have turned to ashes.

There was no more room for negotiation. He had to subdue Tiamar immediately. Otherwise, he would have to face her and the Emperor at the same time.

– This is your karma! Don’t regret your decision!

Two dragons tangled in the sky, and the one with the Lord’s body was dominant. Karkas was the strongest among the Old Gods. He had the upper hand against Tiamar because he wore the shell of an absolute being.

Crack—

But there was a variable.

‘Damn it.’

A sound of something cracking came from his chest.

‘My heart can’t take it.’

The artificial heart made by Etemos had reached its limit. Magic began to leak out through the crack, and the flow became unstable.

‘It’s not time yet!’

Crack, crack…

Once a crack formed, the heart screamed crack, crack, every time he moved his body. The wider the crack, the more magic leaked out, and the more unstable the flow became.

Tiamar would not miss that opportunity.

– Got you.

– Kuk!

She bit his neck.

– Let go! Have you forgotten the mercy I showed you!

– I don’t know anything like that.

She swung him around as if to tear off his neck.

Kwang!

Karkas fell to the ground with half of his neck torn off.

– Ungrateful thing!

He stopped as he was about to fly up again in anger.

The Emperor was in front of him.

– Human…

“You have a heart that doesn’t fit, Karkas.”

Karkas looked at the sky. Tiamar was circling around him. She did not come down. It was like watching an insect box with food in it.

His body trembled with humiliation.

But he could not rush at her right now. The Emperor was emitting energy, so he would not let him go back to the sky.

– You must have my heart.

“How is that yours?”

– Can’t you tell by looking at this body? I am Ailetrione.

Thump, thump, he stomped his feet.

“You are not the Lord. You are a thief wearing his mask. A thief who coveted what should not be coveted, a parasite who does not know his place or his limits.”

The Old Gods who had survived until now gathered around Karkas.

Karkas checked his wound. Recovery was slow. The circulation of magic was cut off because his heart was about to break. The soul of an immortal heals the wounds of the body, but there was a limit because it was not his body in the first place.

“Today, your sins will be paid. I will send you to a place deeper than the abyss. It is a place called death, where there is no second chance.”

– Shut up!

As the Emperor took a step, Karkas spewed breath.

– Death cannot chase us! We are self-born! We started, so we choose the end! You cannot kill us! We do not die!

The sword blocked the breath. The Emperor raised his right hand so that the guard was in front of his forehead. The blazing sword blocked and split the pouring flames.

Karkas saw the Emperor’s unwavering eyes. He felt a chill, as if he had been stabbed with a dagger. Just as he saw the Emperor’s soul, the Emperor was seeing his soul.

He seemed to see the dark and shabby soul hidden by the Lord’s body, and he gasped violently.

– What are you doing! There’s no other time! Kill him!

The Old Gods attacked the Emperor from all directions.

“It’s too late. There will be no opportunity for you in the future, not just now.”

The Emperor held the sword in his right hand and stretched out his left hand to the side.

The Old God who kicked the ground on the left grabbed his stomach. The lower body was a four-legged beast, and the upper body was a horned demon. As the Emperor clenched his fist and pulled his hand up, the upper body was torn off.

Chwaak!

– Keu, heok…!

And as he spread his palm and struck down, the Old God next to him was crushed. An invisible hand struck down from above, pressing down and bursting.

The souls of the two Old Gods floundered in the air.

– I don’t want to die! Save me!

The Emperor absorbed the souls and moved forward. The Lord’s body spat out fire with all its might, but it only slowed his pace.

Crack—

The artificial heart was breaking.

The force pulling in was less than the force escaping.

– Keueueueuk!

The breath was cut off for a moment, and the Emperor kicked the ground.

Swish—

Karkas raised his foot to kick the Emperor away. However, the Emperor twisted his body to avoid the claws and stabbed the dragon’s chest with his sword.

Pook!

The sword of fire was stabbed into his heart.

And Hwareureuk, fire soared.

– No, no!

The heart could not hold out any longer. It detonated the magic it had barely contained, and the shock spread throughout the Lord’s body. Cracking, cracking, centered on the chest where the sword was stabbed, fire soared as it split open.

Pung—, and the Lord’s body exploded.

Pieces of flesh fell.

“……”

The Emperor silently watched the smoke remaining in the place where the Lord had been, without even taking a breath. As the insignificant pieces of meat that had become the Lord fell from the sky, faint smoke gathered.

That was Karkas.

Karkas, who had lost the shell called the Lord, revealed his true form.

On the outside, there was not a single wound. He only lost the shell, so he looked fine. But he looked small. He felt too small because he had lost the magic that the Lord had possessed.

– Etemos!

He urgently called out to the surviving Old God.

Etemos, who was secretly plotting to escape, flinched and looked at him.

– Block him!

Etemos gritted his teeth and opened the gate. A black hole opened in the sky, and unfinished experiments poured out from beyond.

But that was it.

The experiments melted as soon as they touched the light emitted by the Emperor. Even the souls of the Old Gods were scorched, so would experiments that were neither one thing nor the other be able to withstand it?

The Emperor’s gaze turned to Etemos.

– W, wait a minute…

Then heat began to boil from within. Etemos hurriedly stepped back and looked at Karkas.

– Save—

There were no last words, because fire rose up and burned him.

Etemos turned to ashes, and his soul was also absorbed by the Emperor. Now there were eight Old Gods left.

Gulp…

The Old Gods swallowed and held their breath.

– K, Karkas…

Desperate thoughts spread among them. They looked at Karkas as if he were a lifeline. He spread the smoke around and commanded the remaining ones.

– Once is enough! Buy time!

How could they buy time? Etemos had died just by receiving a glance. The remaining ones would not meet a different fate. But they jumped in instead of complaining.

Perhaps Karkas had another trick.

It was a vain hope. Karkas ran away. The moment the seven Old Gods rushed at the Emperor, he turned around and ran away.

– Karkas?

– D, don’t run away!

– Did you deceive us!

There was not a shred of hesitation.

Survival is more important than pride. Anyone else would have done the same if they had the same opportunity, rationalizing as they ran away.

The escape was fast. He crossed the Elven barrier in an instant. He was going to escape to the end of the world and hide. If he was determined to hide, the Emperor would not be able to find him.

‘If I’m alive, there will be a chance.’

Will the Emperor rule the world forever?

No.

The Lord, who was believed to be eternal, also fell to a mortal. The same was true of the Old Gods. The Emperor would be no different. If there is a rise, there is a fall.

‘I endured ten thousand years in the abyss. What else can’t I endure?’

Stop.

But the dream was short.

“It’s futile.”

The Emperor appeared in front of him. Just like when he revealed himself on the peak, like when Etemos summoned the monster, he tore through space and arrived in front of him.

Light surged.

“Karkas, you who have many sins. There is nowhere in this world for you to hide.”

– Does it have to be like this?

Karkas asked in the pain of his flesh melting and his soul being pierced.

– Isn’t there another option? Dominate me. It will definitely be helpful to you. I am self-born. Like the Lord, I am a primordial being who manifested myself.

“……”

The Emperor walked towards Karkas without answering. The cloud of smoke floating in the air, Karkas, swayed in the gentle breeze and retreated.

– Didn’t you receive the Lord’s help? I also possess the same wisdom as the Lord. I will pass on the knowledge that the Lord could not convey. Truth… yes, I will teach you the truth. Why we are immortal, and how the Lord became mortal—

“Tiamar said it. She doesn’t need it.”

The Emperor released the hilt of the sword in his hand. The hilt fell to the dirt floor with a thud, and the flames that had formed the sword disappeared.

“Your existence has no value. Karkas.”

– Don’t come closer.

Fear was evident in his thoughts.

Karkas’s form changed. It flowed down, spread out, and clumped together. The final form was a human identical to the Emperor. It was a form like a human made of cotton.

He sat down on the floor and looked up at the Emperor.

– How… how do you have such power? Did the Lord create you? How? How… what is your origin that makes us so miserable?

The Emperor touched Karkas’s head with his right hand.

“Aleon confessed his sins in regret. What about you?”

The face made of mist continued to change its mouth shape. It was like a human moving its lips when trying to say something. Even though he could not make a sound because he had no vocal cords, he wanted to speak.

– I… I have no sins to confess to you. When we manifested in the world, no one questioned our sins. Conscience and morality do not exist in nature. What you call chaos is originally the foundation of this world… we are only pursuing that time…

The Emperor’s magic enveloped the last remaining Old God.

– I am self-born, and I do not die…

His thoughts trembled, and the mist closed its eyes.

– You cannot, cannot… kill me…

Pasusseu—

The mist collapsed.

And the soul was devoured.

“It’s over.”

The Emperor let out a long breath.

He stood alone in the Elven land where the cold wind blew.